3 Insights for Leaders on the Importance of a Personal Connection in 2022

January 12, 2022 – As one of the world’s largest consumer-focused private equity firms, L Catterton has helped guide their portfolio companies on how to adopt effective skills to manage both the significant shift in consumer habits as a result of COVID-19, and the ways in which leadership can drive internal connectivity with employees. In a recent discussion, Jeff Weiser, operating partner at the firm, shared his top three insights with Hunt Club general manager Jenny Hurwitz, on leadership and the importance of personal connection during the conversion process.

The first insight is that at its core, good leadership hasn’t changed. “While the medium to communicate vision and leadership changed dramatically during COVID – moving from primarily in-person interactions to primarily remote interactions – the substance of good leadership did not,” said Mr. Weiser. “I’ve always believed that inspiring one’s team to give the proverbial 110 percent (and never to ‘punch the clock’) is more important than having the perfect plan. That begins with showing every single person how performing their role with excellence enables the department and company to achieve its broader objectives.”

Second, leaders drive connectivity. “Hybrid work models have placed a greater burden on leaders to seek out connectivity with their teams,” Mr. Weiser says. “Working remotely is not an excuse for a leader to be out of sight, out of mind — and in the absence of water-cooler chat and hallway run-ins, we have to create forums to check in with our teammates. Scheduling moments of digital connection with those who may be uncomfortable seeking you out is critical to remote leadership.”

The final insight is that today’s consumers are seeking a more meaningful connection with brands. Balancing authenticity while growing revenue is key.

“I don’t know that building a meaningful connection with customers and driving them through a conversion funnel are necessarily at odds,” said Mr. Weiser. “The art is in determining which customers are at which stages of purchase consideration and meeting them with the appropriate content and experience in that moment. For a customer who is unfamiliar with our brand, we may need to build an emotional connection; for another who is primed to purchase, we may need to simplify their buying experience. But they’re not mutually exclusive aims. Marketers really can have it all!”

An Influencer Network

Hunt Club is a referral recruiting service that leverages technology and a front-end automation process to help land passive candidates. The firm leverages a network of connected influencers, which include executives, entrepreneurs, subject matter experts and connectors, to refer for roles. Hunt Club has completed over 200 searches across functions, industries, and experience levels in the past 12 months. Notable clients include Dollar Shave Club, Bellhops, Proctor & Gamble, Wilson Sporting Goods, and Trunk Club, among others. Hunt Club also works with high-growth start-ups, unicorns, and companies looking to build teams including gopuff, Typeform, G2, Nerdy, Dollar Shave Club, Terminus and Oak Street Health.

Hunt Club is looking to grow aggressively in the coming months. “We have ambitious growth plans, scaling to over 100-plus people by the end of 2021 and are scaling nationally,” said Nick Cromydas, co-founder and CEO. “We’ll make deep investments across product management, engineering, data science to continue to pave the way in leading innovation in our space.”

With a growing database of five million candidates, referred from Hunt Club’s network of more than 11,000 subject matter experts, the latest funding round will enable further development of the company’s machine learning technology that automates much of the recruiting process. It will also further facilitate Hunt Club’s growth of its Talent Expert Network, expand the company’s leadership and talent team.

Related: Hunt Club Raises $10 Million to Grow Candidate Referrals and Talent Networks

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media

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